Ex astronaut Pedro Duque signs DEIMOS deal
SSTL were host to ex-ESA astronaut Pedro Duque this month. Pedro worked at ESA (European Space Agency) for 20 years, the last 14 of which were spent as an Astronaut Pedro has visited space twice - on the US shuttle in 1998 and on a Soyuz launched mission to the International Space Station in 2003 as part of the ESA?s Cervantes Mission.
Now, Pedro is the CEO of the new company "Deimos Imaging SL", a subsidiary of Deimos Space SL. Pedro was visiting SSTL so that his company could finalise a contract for an Earth imaging satellite named DEIMOS.
Click the thumbnail to enlarge - (from left to right) James Penson, Adrian Black, Alfonso Barreiro - Deimos Imaging, Petro Duque - Deimos Imaging, Miguel Bello Mora - Deimos Space, Abel Calle Montes - Univerisdad de Vallavolid, Paul Stephens (DMCii), Jenny Lorenzi.
This satellite will be built by SSTL to be ready for launch early in 2008 and will form part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). The satellite will provide imagery for commercial applications, for government use and for rapid-response following disasters.
This contract with SSTL will provide Deimos with an enhanced version of the DMC wide area imaging system. The new system will image 600km wide swaths of the Earth in three spectral bands at a ground resolution of 22 metres, rather than using the standard 32m DMC imager. The contract also covers the provision of the ground system to allow operation of the satellite from Valladolid, Spain and it establishes SSTL as the launch agent for procurement of launch services.
This contract is Deimos' first step into satellite ownership. Since it was formed in 2001, Deimos has grown rapidly to become one of Europe's leading Space consultancies with over 200 staff. Mr Durque commented, "we went to Surrey because they could offer us excellent value with a proven product."
Mr Duque also acknowledged the unique operation of the DMC, "by procuring one satellite, we could benefit from being a part of a larger constellation which is already operational. This means that we can receive data from space before our satellite is launched and, once launched, obtain imagery of Spain far faster than we could with a single satellite. Our business case relies on this."
Malcolm Wicks MP, who was appointed UK Minister of State for Science and Innovation on the 10th November, dropped in to SSTL’s new purpose-built offices last Friday upon invitation to a briefing on the Company's capabilities and the insider's view of th
Tracked: Dec 07, 11:55